In an effort to enhance morale and productivity, limit job turnover, and help organizations increase performance and improve business results, most companies today are in a hurry to prioritize inclusion and diversity as part of their culture. This trailblazer is an attempt to clear the dark clouds of attrition, as also an enabler of widening the customer base and expansion to newer geographies.

Against the backdrop of an undercurrent of transformation going on in most IT companies, women managers of top IT companies said in unison that diversity is essential for an IT company to become truly global, during a forum on ‘Power of Human Network’, organized by Cisco India.

Addressing the forum, Cisco Asia Pacific Senior Manager Tracy Ann Curtis, described a diverse and inclusive workplace as one where employees from a multitude of cultures, geographies and beliefs embrace diversity, combine their unique backgrounds, experiences, and values to achieve both individual and collective success.

In this context, panelists Geetha Kannan, Associate VP and Head - Business Partner HR, Infosys; GangaSharma, Country Manager HR, Employee Relations, Diversity and Culture, Hewlett Packard; Mrinalini Ingram, Director of Finance for U.S. Sales, Cisco Systems; Preeti Rajan, India Diversity Manager, Dell, and Harini S. Chittor, India Head, Leadership Development, IBM, discussed various initiatives that their companies follow as a part of the Diversity and Inclusion program, the challenges of driving these programs and how they could be aligned with an organization’s business goals.

Most of them noted that IT companies these days provide a wide range of trainings focusing on inclusion and diversity issues; such training sessions are becoming business imperative as corporations expand their presence to newer geographies. Apart from providing the training, the companies are also assessing the employees on the performance level.